Illinois Woman Mauled by Adopted Dog

ABC News(KANE COUNTY, Ill.) -- A 44-year old Illinois firefighter was killed this week after a family dog that she had recently adopted suddenly attacked her at her home.

Dawn Brown, a full-time firefighter for the Bristol-Kendall Fire Department and a part-time paramedic for the Big Rock Fire Protection District, was mauled Monday by a mastiff that she had just welcomed into her house in the last month. Her co-workers for the Big Rock Fire Department were the first responders to the scene of the attack.

Lt. Pat Gengler of the Kane County Sheriff's Office told ABC News that a 911 call came in on Monday around 4:15pm from Brown's husband who had returned home to find his wife – home alone at the time – injured. Members of the volunteer fire department down the street responded to the call immediately.

"As soon as they got there it was obvious that she had passed away," Gengler said. "We saw there were three dogs: a mastiff, a boxer and a pit bull mix, I'm not sure, but the mastiff was the issue. We processed the scene and waited for the autopsy. It came back that the injuries the bite marks were definitely from the mastiff. His jaws are so much bigger than the other dogs."

Gengler said the mastiff bit Brown in the neck.

"I saw him from afar. He was a big dog, very strong, probably 150 pounds or more I'm guessing," Gengler said. "He was very sturdy. I could see that you could see that dog from down the street and think, 'That's a really big dog, I don't want to go near him.'"

The mastiff was a new addition to the Brown family after some relatives with a newborn baby decided they no longer wanted the dog around.